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Family cruise Dec 2012

Sail Date:
December 2012

Destination:
Southern Caribbean

Embarkation:
San Juan

Southern Caribbean cruise aboard Celebrity Summit Dec. 8-15, 2012 We are experienced cruisers, having been on Princess, Costa, Holland America, and Celebrity. Overall, this was our favourite cruise so far, and was a great experience. Celebrity is still our favourite. The itinerary was great, and weather was beautiful. We would definitely cruise with Celebrity again.

Pre-cruise: We stayed at the Hampton Inn in Carolina. It was a nice hotel, which was close to the airport, had free breakast, and was a short cab ride to the pier. I would definitely stay there again.

Embarkation: Fast and efficient. We arrived at 2:00 PM; and within 25 minutes, we were onboard.

Room: We travelled with two kids, and stayed in a room with two upper berths. The kids loved it, and although space was tight, we easily managed. The only annoying thing was that when the ship was at sea, there was an intermittent humming. Our room steward was okay at best, but very friendly.

Food: More
The food was quite good; and while there were some missteps, we were generally happy with the food. The buffet food was also quite good, and a lot of international foods and daily sushi were available. One slight annoyance was that the labelling of foods was inconsistent, and often wrong.

The ship: The ship was in good shape, and was modern and classy, in a typical Celebrity style. It was very clean, including public areas and washrooms.

Service: The service on Summit was good, but a bit questionable at times. A lot of the fine, classy touches we noticed on our previous Celebrity cruise are now gone, and are missed. There were times where we had trouble getting staff to clear tables, and times where service at the bar was inconsistent. Our head and assistant waiters in the main dining room, however, were amazing.

Kids program: Our kids really enjoyed the programs at the Fun Factory, and the staff were great.

Disembarkation: Smooth and efficient as well. We took the Bacardi distillery tour with airport drop off; which was okay, but took care of our luggage and killed a couple of hours instead of waiting at the airport. Less

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Cabin review: Celebrity Summit

Port and Shore Excursions

Dominica is one of the most beautiful islands we've visited. It is so lush and tropical. Roseau is also a nice little town to walk around. We took a trip to the sulfur springs at Papillote, in the rainforest. It was an amazing experience. Papillote has sulfur spring pools (hot and warm) as well as natural waterfall which feeds a cold pool. Sitting in the pools while the rain fell was so serene and relaxing. The best experience of our cruise.

St. George's is a bustling town, and quite nice. We took a tour, which was not very interesting, but had some interesting stops at a spice shop and rum shop. We then stopped at aquarium beach, which was beautiful, but the seas too rough for the kids to swim. It was obvious that collusion between all of the 'stops' and the drivers. Had the driver cared about what we wanted in a beach, he would have taken us to a calmer beach, which left a sour note on our experience.

St. Croix was an okay cruise stop, but was nothing to shout about. Frederiksted has an okay beach within walking distance from the port, and a small fort to explore for a small fee. We did not do any excursions, which we would probably do if we return. There was a nice craft market, but not much else around the pier.

St. Kitts is beautiful, and Basseterre is a nice little town. We were able to walk around and take pictures, and get good local food. We took a trip to Carambola Beach Club, and spent the day. It was a beautiful, calm beach, which we really enjoyed. We were also able to stop and get coconut water in town before heading back. It was great.

St. Thomas is awesome. The shopping was great, and were able to get some great deals. But the highlight of St. Thomas was our trip to Coki beach. We took a van and spent the day. It is a beautiful beach with clear water and amazing snorkelling. The food available on the beach was also really good. It was a great day, and a nice last stop on our cruise.